At Gold Coast Holistic Dental Care, Dr Dan Hanson offers laser tongue tie and lip tie releases. Every Thursday, we dedicate one of our rooms to tongue tie and lip tie consultations and treatments. We are passionate about helping correct this common problem as early as possible in life.
A tongue tie or lip tie decreases the mobility of the tongue or lip and is a congenital abnormality. The tie is caused by the frenulum. The frenulum is a normal part of the body’s anatomy, but can be too thick, too short, or attached in the wrong place. If this is the case, the frenum may restrict the range of motion in the infants tongue or lips.
The treatment is suitable for patients of all ages. It can be the solution for:
There are various symptoms of tongue ties and lip ties. They can arise in early infancy or develop during childhood, and continue into adulthood.
Symptoms can arise at any age. Some common symptoms for adults with tongue ties or lip ties are:
Every tongue tie or lip tie is unique in its shape and form. Dr Dan Hanson is the founder of the Gold Coast Tongue Tie Clinic and co-founder of the Tongue Tie Institute. He has dedicated his work solely to treatment of soft tissue dysfunction and it’s co-morbidities which can include feeding, speaking, sleeping and jaw growth challenges. He performs approximately 10 to 15 surgical procedures each week between clinics on the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Melbourne.
The tongue or lip tie release (also called frenectomy) is performed with a medical laser. The procedure only takes 2 minutes in the dental chair. However, please allow up to 1 hour for your consultation and around 20 minutes for after-care.
If the patient is an infant, a lactation consultant will be present. The laser uses light energy to remove the abnormally attached lip and/or tongue tie, layer by layer. The process does not require anaesthetics, sutures or oral medications for infants. For children and adults, local anaesthesia is used. Sutures are sometimes an option which can be discussed at your consultation. Often there is no need for sutures.
At Gold Coast Holistic Dental Care, we look after our patients’ overall health. This often requires referral to allied health practitioners. When a tongue tie has been present since before birth, there is usually some compensatory muscle activation, particularly in the lips, cheeks and neck region. Some gentle manual therapy from a cranial worker such as a chiropractor or osteopath can assist with achieving excellent results by relieving this tension and working on other areas which are outside the scope of practice of the surgeon. This is best done both before and after surgery. You can find out more about supportive therapies and lists of trusted supporting practitioners here.
You will receive post-operative instructions from our team. These include:
Step 1: Call our practice on (07) 5644 6000
Step 2: We will provide you will all the information you need for your circumstances
Step 3: We will help you to book the appropriate consultation
If you would like to learn more about tongue tie and lip tie procedures, please follow our links below:
List of lactation consultants and midwives who are trained in tongue and lip ties
List of body workers who are trained in tongue and lip ties
List of Speech Pathologists who are trained in tongue and lip ties
List of trusted homeopaths and naturopaths
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek advice from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.